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Marie Larkin, based in New York state, is a well known BROKER (NOT a breeder!) of cavaliers and some other breeds which she claims she imports from 'family members' who breed these dogs in Ireland. She operates as Puppies By Marie and Celtic Irish Puppies and Celtic Irish Yorkies and Celtic Irish Westies, and Emerald Puppies (there may be other names as well) and her ads can be found on numerous puppy ads websites.

A judgement was made against her in a Hempstead, NY court for selling a sickly puppy considered unfit for sale under New York State's lemon laws. The vet she uses to approve her puppies as fit and healthy was also implicated by the judge in the case. This is a matter of public record. I have a copy of the judgement and this can be obtained from the correct court by anyone who is interested.

As general guidance, if you are considering a puppy by ANYONE in the US or Canada claiming to import or sell Irish dogs, read THIS FIRST!!!

It is completely untrue that Irish dogs are healthier or breeders held to a higher standard by the Irish Kennel Club or law. The EXACT OPPOSITE is generally true of the country as a whole: Ireland has a disgusting reputation as one of the puppy farm capitals of the world, with many breeders breeding dogs in appalling and despicable conditions. Very little legislation actually exists to PROTECT animals from being exploited in this way, which is why brokers make fortunes off importing cheap, sickly dogs and selling them to the unsuspecting abroad. Irish imports sadly have a very bad name worldwide for this reason. If you want advice on finding a reputable breeder, read more here.

Brokers are widely despised in the breeding world. They buy up lots of puppies, which are packed into large crates for airline shipping or ground transport (recently two brokers with a truck were stopped in Ireland (late 2012) who had large plastic buckets full of dozens of puppies that could barely move around; some dead). In the course of writing on the Irish puppy farm industry (I am a journalist) I spoke to a woman who had seen the crates of cavaliers shipped to the US for a well known broker, by air -- many were under legal age for shipping and several were already dead in the crate. Consider: what responsible, caring breeder would ever sell off entire litters of puppies with no regard as to who they ultimately end up with? None. Good breeders do NOT sell to brokers -- and it is ILLEGAL for national club breeders to sell to brokers. Brokers buy up puppies from mass breeders/puppyfarmers/backyard breeders who know little about the breed and are highly unlikely to properly health test. Puppies=livestock. The cheaper the production, the more profit. Such puppies are bought up for $50-100 each in Ireland, Wales, Eastern Europe, the US and other puppy farm centres. Then they are sold for hundreds, even thousands, to unsuspecting buyers.

ALSO:

REMEMBER, AVOID ANY BREEDER OR BROKER WHO ASKS FOR CASH, MONEY ORDER, BANK DRAFT PAYMENT -- which creates NO legal record of a sale, NO taxable record etc. Note that if you pay by the above methods you have NO way to reclaim the money except by taking a court case and NO way to prove what you bought. ***A reputable breeder WILL NEVER demand these recordless forms of payment!!***

Considering an Irish cavalier?

NB: This is a reiteration and summary of points made many times on this board. As a general point, if you are buying a puppy in the US, Canada, Ireland, the UK, or anywhere, remember:

1) Please be aware that a broker is NOT the same as a breeder. A broker operates as a middleman, selling on dogs that are purchased en masse from breeders. Reputable, health focused, club-affiliated breeders do not allow their puppies to be taken en masse by a third party to be sold to new owners they have never met. Breed club websites reiterate this point very clearly.

2) Also please be aware that Irish dogs are NOT, as some brokers and breeders misleadingly state, 'more healthy' because Ireland supposedly has stricter laws on breeding!! Quite the opposite: Ireland has WEAKER rules in the Irish Kennel Club than in many national breed club organisations, and with cavaliers, there are NO requirements in the breed club that cavaliers have a single health test before breeding. The only reason Ireland has rabies-free dogs is because Ireland, like the UK, does not have rabies! It has NOTHING (sadly!) to do with the 'quality' of dog breeding in the country. Ireland actually has such POOR LAWS on animal welfare that thousands of dogs, many of them cavaliers, are kept in mass breeding establishments in horrific conditions that are TOTALLY LEGAL (see links below). Such places are the source of many if not most of the 'irish champion line cavalier puppies' imported into the US/Canada. Many of us are fighting to change this situation. If someone tells you Irish cavaliers are healthier than lines elsewhere *for any reason whatsoever*, be immediately suspicious. I would not buy a cavalier or any breed from anyone making such a statement.

3) Finally, PLEASE DO NOT EVEN BEGIN TO CONSIDER BUYING PUPPIES IN IRELAND, OR FROM IMPORTED IRISH PARENTS OR PUPPIES IMPORTED DIRECTLY FROM IRELAND, WITHOUT READING THIS FIRST:

There are many reputable breeders in Ireland who may be contacted through the breed club secretary (see www.ikc.ie for a list of club secretaries) and each should be rigorously interviewed about their approach to health and conformation before you ever consider purchasing a puppy from them. On the flip side, Ireland because of its extremely weak animal welfare laws is currently the puppy farm (mill) capital of Europe with many dogs bred in appalling conditions to produce masses of puppies that are then sold by brokers to the unsuspecting. In particular, cavaliers are sold by brokers into the US in this way.

CAPS, the Companion Animal Protection Society (a welfare and consumer group) has received this complaint about Illinois based Celticcavaliers.com which it has up on its page warning about puppy mill dogs and on EVER buying puppies from internet sites:

Puppy Find (www.puppyfind.com)
Importer: Celtic Cavaliers (www.celticcavaliers.com), Palatine, IL
The importer, who is based in the Chicago area, specializes in Cavalier King Charles Spaniels that she imports from Ireland. She claims: "Some of our pedigrees include top bloodlines..." Ireland has numerous puppy farms (puppy mills). Cavalier King Charles Spaniel had pneumonia, coccidia and giardia. The puppy has an open fontanel and is having seizures.

Here is what CAPS board member, Dr. Don Allen, DVM, wrote to the consumer who purchased the very sick Cavalier puppy:

The "breeder" you are dealing with is simply an unscrupulous puppy mill retailer who buys from any source she can find for a pittance and sells for enormous profit. She probably never even sees some of the dogs she buys and sells. I also doubt that her vet examined this puppy. The vet has a conflict of interest. Of course he is paid a fee for his services, and he values that extra income. So he passes nearly every pup. You should file a complaint with the Illinois State Board of Veterinary Medicine (search online) in that he has violated state veterinary code. Two vets in NJ had their licenses suspended for just this thing. It may be good to also file a complaint in Virginia with their veterinary board. You might also file consumer complaints with both states' attorneys general offices (also most are online). Too bad you can't also turn her into the IRS, because I have little doubt that she is claiming all her income.

The open fontanel generally closes shortly after birth on any animal. This is a major defect in your dog. Also, seizures are an indication of inherited epilepsy. There is no test for epilepsy, as it is generally diagnosed through the history of seizure events.

In any event, hang onto Kassidy. She needs your love and compassion. It´s not her fault, and I'm afraid her mother will never see a gentle hand.

A Google search of “puppies for sale” produces numerous puppy merchant websites (see bottom of page). But please do not buy a puppy over the internet. Many of these puppies are coming from puppy mills that sell directly to the public or that raise dogs, for the most part, for resale to pet shops (USDA licensed facilities). Reputable breeders do not sell puppies to families they haven’t met in person. They do a thorough screening of potential buyers of their puppies. They provide health guarantees and provide health clearances for genetic defects inherent in the breed. It is not common to see kennel cough, coccidia, giardia, ear and eye infections, upper respiratory infections and worms in puppies that come from reputable breeders.

We had exactly the same experience with this "breeder" and we are in the process of taking legal action. It appears that she has a very questionable background and tthere are various cases filed against her. You can view a list of these cases at: http://courtindex.sdcourt.ca.gov/CISPublic/namesearch

Thankfully, our little guy is doing much better. We also purchased our puppy last month, and this past month has been extremely stressful. Our little one had to be hospitalized, has had many costly vet visits, and is still going through antibiotic treatment. Sad to say, this stress and worry is not over for us, as he is not completely out of the woods. While the financial toll has been very hard to bear, the fear of losing him has been extremely hard on our family.